Hesperia colorado
Encyclopedia
The Western Branded Skipper (Hesperia colorado) is a butterfly
of the Hesperiidae family.
It is found from in Eurasia and north-western Africa, coast to coast in North America in boreal and subalpine areas south as far as Colorado
, hence the Latin name.
The wingspan
is 22–30 mm. The flight period is from late June to mid-August in western North America and from late July to early September in eastern North America.
The larvae feed on Muhlenbergia
, Stipa
, Andropogon
, and Lolium.
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
of the Hesperiidae family.
It is found from in Eurasia and north-western Africa, coast to coast in North America in boreal and subalpine areas south as far as Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, hence the Latin name.
The wingspan
Wingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
is 22–30 mm. The flight period is from late June to mid-August in western North America and from late July to early September in eastern North America.
The larvae feed on Muhlenbergia
Muhlenbergia
Muhlenbergia is a genus of grass in the Poaceae family. It is named in honour of the American amateur botanist Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg. There are around 155 species. Many are known by the common name muhly....
, Stipa
Stipa
This article is about a type of grass.For Speech Transmission Index for Public Address Systems, see Speech transmission index.For the Italian aircraft designer, see Luigi Stipa...
, Andropogon
Andropogon
Andropogon is a genus of grasses. Andropogon gerardii, big bluestem, is the official state grass of Illinois.Broomsedge is found along the eastern United States...
, and Lolium.
Subspecies
Listed alphabetically.- H. c. colorado (Scudder, 1874)
- H. c. harpalus (Edwards, 1881) – Idaho Branded Skipper
- H. c. leussleri Lindsey, 1940
- H. c. mattoonorum McGuire, 1998
- H. c. oregonia (Edwards, 1883) – Oregon Branded Skipper
- H. c. tildeni Freeman, 1956
External links
- Western Branded Skipper, Butterflies and Moths of North America